Effects of dendritic cells co-cultured with CIK cells on renal carcinoma cells

AIM: To study the effects of CIK cocultured with DC that pulsed with RCC antigen on renal carcinoma cells.METHODS: DC and CIK cells were generated respectively by cytokines from PBMC of healthy blood donor.Cell surface markers were analyzed by flow cytometry.Then CIK were cocultured with autologous DC that was (or not) pulsed with RCC antigen (786-0 cells).Cytotoxic activity against 786-0 or PC3 cells was measured by MTT assay under three different conditions: CIK cocultured with DC which was pulsed with 786-0 antigen (group A);CIK cocultured with DC which is not pulsed with 786-0 antigen (group B);CIK without DC (group C).RESULTS: The cytotoxic activity of three groups against 786-0 cells was (70.64±8.26)%, (53.40±7.33)%, (46.64±6.01)%, respectively (E/T=20∶〖KG-*2〗1).Significant differences between group A and group B or between group A and group C were observed (P<0.05).There was a significant difference in cytotoxic effects of group A against 786-0 and PC3 cells (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Coculture of CIK with autologous tumor-pulsed DC leads to a significant increase in cytotoxic activity against renal carcinoma cells, and cytotoxicity mediated by RCC lysate antigen possess stronger specificity.